February is Black History Month, and each year, the Lower Merion Black Student Union (BSU) makes sure that great Black figures and Black culture is highlighted in order to celebrate it. Black History is American History, is World History—and it’s important that we celebrate that everyday, but especially during this month.
Black History Month kicks off at LM with decorations around the school, banners in the upper atrium celebrating Black actresses like Viola Davis, activists like Malcom X and Marsha P. Johnson, and athletes like Serena Williams. The side hallway leading to the front office is decorated with important Black figures of all different professional backgrounds: Chloë Bailey, Shirley Chisholm, Kobe Bryant, Muhammad Ali, Lauryn Hill, Chadwick Boseman, Tupac, and Amanda Gorman. This year the BSU has partnered with the Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Committee of Lower Merion Student Council to make this the best Black History Month this could possibly be. Music Fridays have been taken over to play music by Black artists and each week on the announcements clues are given out so people can guess an important Black figure each week and win a five dollar cash prize. The winners so far have been Mia Tatar ’28 and Aliyah Alwyn ’26. On February 11 students also got a chance to participate in Black Jeopardy in room 121 in groups to win twenty dollars. This week the Black Student Union will be conducting a spirit week with themes like Anything but a Backpack Day, Throwback, and Color Wars—all students are allowed and encouraged to participate.
The best part of Black History Month is the BSU’s All Shades of Black Event which is having their third annual one this year and has partnered up with Harriton for the event. Look out for flyers around school advertising the event which will take place on February 27 from 6-8pm. Admission is free, but you do have to pay for food. This year’s event will feature performances from the Zionist Baptist Church Choir, D.A.T. Dance Studio, Dance 4 Life, Libby Spencer Dancers, a poetry reading, and much more! There will also be a student interview video played at the event that asks the LM student body questions regarding Black culture. Part of the proceeds for the event will be going to the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) to support them in future competitions and they will also have a table set up to display their work at Shades of Black. Donniell Cooke, the BSU advisor, has this to say about the event, “Black History Month celebrations like the Shades of Black showcase provide a powerful opportunity to recognize Black cultural experiences while educating and inspiring our entire community.” The BSU provides a great show every year, it’s open to the entire community and it gets a great turnout. So invite your friends and
family and come out to the show!
Everyone—no matter what race or ethnicity—is allowed to participate in this event and all that BSU has going on during the month. Bruk Kebede ’27, the vice president of BSU, mentions, “There seems to be an uncomfortableness around celebrating another race or culture when someone does not identify as that race, and I think that’s something our community should work on. I am a part of Jewish Student Union, and I’m not even Jewish.”
More people should attend BSU events and explore Black culture and events locally and outside their community. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has a Black art exhibit for Black History Month every February, the Philadelphia Film Society has celebrated Black films and filmmakers from January 31 to February 6, there’s a Philadelphia Caribbean Festival every summer, and the National Museum of African-American History & Culture is free in D.C. There is unwillingness to discover and learn about Black History and even more of an unwillingness to talk about Black History past racism or colonization. Black History is more than just trauma and struggle—there is life, there is love, and there is culture. If people would open their horizons and explore different aspects of Black culture they would learn to appreciate it more!
